And because he has nukes we are forced to sit and watch
This is how Russians fight wars.
It appears Putin is happy to turn Ukraine into a pile of smoking ashes, with 5m refugees scattered across Europe, as long as he "wins" this war
The worst war crime in Europe since WW2, and probably second only to WW2. A truly bitter historic irony, when it was Russia that suffered so much from Hitler
Konstantin Kisin made the point that the Russian doctrine places far less worth on the value of the individual life, it is much more important that the "greater good" is seen to have been upheld. Putin propaganda is that this is about resisting the Nazis (again) and behind them NATO want to roll in and expand.
It is difficult for us in the west to try and consider such a notation, but we neither have the cultural framework nor have to listen to the 24/7 propaganda or be worried we will be off to Siberia should we raise an objection.
Yikes, pulling no punches there Zelensky: "Think about the feeling of impunity that the occupiers have that they announce their atrocities in advance! All because there is no reaction. Not a word. It’s like all Western leaders are gone today. I hope you will at least notice it tomorrow, and react to it".
However much no NFZ makes rational sense for the West, it's no wonder the Ukrainians are a bit more sanguine about it making a large scale war more likely given their current situation.
"As Ukrainians deal with the devastation of the Russian attacks in their homeland, many are also encountering a confounding and almost surreal backlash from family members in Russia, who refuse to believe that Russian soldiers could bomb innocent people, or even that a war is taking place at all."
Ukrainians Find That Relatives in Russia Don’t Believe It’s a War Many Ukrainians are encountering a confounding and frustrating backlash from family members in Russia who have bought into the official Kremlin messaging.
It's frustrating enough when a relative buys into a conspiracy theory you know for a fact to be false (one of mine genuinely thought images of T May had been spliced into footage in Salisbury and she was not really there, to take a mild example), but when you call to let them know your apartment building has been destroyed and half your neighbours are dead?
I'm struggling with this. In the piece a guy's own father (back in Russia) doesn't believe he is being bombed to bits in Ukr.
So he would literally rather believe state TV news over his own son?
The truth is too hard to believe sometimes, even when it stares you in the face. Comfortable lies are preferred to uncomfortable truths. It's a phenomenon here too.
The charge is that Johnson got the intelligence assessment changed. That had nothing to do with anyone else.
Then Starmer is correct in referring it to the appropriate committee
Johnson is a smarmy, lying, worthless crook and a disgrace to himself, his party and his country. Your attitude to him is Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer played out in real life.
That’s enough slander 😠 There’s proper questions emerging here for PB to bottom out and help each other, and credit to Big G for answering every question honestly whilst HY has run away to hide in a fridge.
And because he has nukes we are forced to sit and watch
This is how Russians fight wars.
It appears Putin is happy to turn Ukraine into a pile of smoking ashes, with 5m refugees scattered across Europe, as long as he "wins" this war
The worst war crime in Europe since WW2, and probably second only to WW2. A truly bitter historic irony, when it was Russia that suffered so much from Hitler
Konstantin Kisin made the point that the Russian doctrine places far less worth on the value of the individual life, it is much more important that the "greater good" is seen to have been upheld. Putin propaganda is that this is about resisting the Nazis (again) and behind them NATO want to roll in and expand.
The sequel to the Great Patriotic War is turning out to be a bit of a let down. Often the way with really long awaited sequels, especially in the hands of fanboy nostalgists with a poor grast of the facts of the original.
"With the indiscriminate bombardment of Kharkiv, a mostly Russian-speaking city, Putin's strategy becomes clear: Murder as many people as possible. Then take possession of the ruins.
"Longer-term strategy: move "patriotic" Russians into the ruins. Change the nature of the place. Whether you call it genocide or ethnic cleansing, the KGB know how to do it: Stalin, like Hitler, tried it many times."
Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed
I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?
These laws actually help his government and I have no doubt they will be enforced if for no other reason public demand and opposition demands
I would just comment in all this cynicism of Boris, Peppa Crerar the mirror journalist most responsible for putting partygate in front of the nation, was very complimentary to Boris this morning saying that he was doing well and leading Britain in a global context
So to ask the question again, if we are doing such a marvellous job why are we refusing Ukrainian refugees? The rest of Europe acts, we refuse but then tell lies about acting.
On one hand we have that traitor Patel saying how marvellous her policy is for refugees. On the other hand we have hard evidence that her Border Force refuse to let almost everyone in. Go away they are told.
If there is evidence than Patel must respond and hopefully it will be raised in the HOC tomorrow
If? It is being reported widely from multiple sources of multiple examples.
They are lying to you when they say the policy is generous.
I understand 200,000 can come to the UK for 3 years
Is that wrong and if so please provide a link
One posted above. Turned away by Border Force. Told to go away, back to Paris or Brussels. We aren't letting people in. You understand the lie they have told. I don;t blame you one bit - it is outrageous that we can't trust the word of the Home Secretary about the treatment of refugees.
But we can't trust her word. It is a lie.
What evidence do you have that we are not processing the 10 000 received yesterday
10,000 what? People? The Home Office said we have so far let in 50.
This one is simple. We have a million people fleeing into Poland alone. Some have relatives here, connections here, sanctuary offered here. Unlike countries across the continent we are turning them away. You can't come here. Go away. Fill in a form. We'll think about it.
Its disgusting, shameful, appalling. That she is lying about it just makes it worse. Let refugees in. Now.
Poland alone? That dumb assertion really annoys me. It is the easiest exit by miles. That may be why they all head there. A stupid statistic to weaponise. Yes, we should make it easier. We should do more. Comparison to the Poland number is stupidity personified.
"As Ukrainians deal with the devastation of the Russian attacks in their homeland, many are also encountering a confounding and almost surreal backlash from family members in Russia, who refuse to believe that Russian soldiers could bomb innocent people, or even that a war is taking place at all."
Ukrainians Find That Relatives in Russia Don’t Believe It’s a War Many Ukrainians are encountering a confounding and frustrating backlash from family members in Russia who have bought into the official Kremlin messaging.
It's frustrating enough when a relative buys into a conspiracy theory you know for a fact to be false (one of mine genuinely thought images of T May had been spliced into footage in Salisbury and she was not really there, to take a mild example), but when you call to let them know your apartment building has been destroyed and half your neighbours are dead?
I'm struggling with this. In the piece a guy's own father (back in Russia) doesn't believe he is being bombed to bits in Ukr.
So he would literally rather believe state TV news over his own son?
The truth is too hard to believe sometimes, even when it stares you in the face. Comfortable lies are preferred to uncomfortable truths. It's a phenomenon here too.
Old T.S. knew his stuff (despite all the dubiety).
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind Cannot bear very much reality. Time past and time future What might have been and what has been Point to one end, which is always present.
"As Ukrainians deal with the devastation of the Russian attacks in their homeland, many are also encountering a confounding and almost surreal backlash from family members in Russia, who refuse to believe that Russian soldiers could bomb innocent people, or even that a war is taking place at all."
Ukrainians Find That Relatives in Russia Don’t Believe It’s a War Many Ukrainians are encountering a confounding and frustrating backlash from family members in Russia who have bought into the official Kremlin messaging.
It's frustrating enough when a relative buys into a conspiracy theory you know for a fact to be false (one of mine genuinely thought images of T May had been spliced into footage in Salisbury and she was not really there, to take a mild example), but when you call to let them know your apartment building has been destroyed and half your neighbours are dead?
I'm struggling with this. In the piece a guy's own father (back in Russia) doesn't believe he is being bombed to bits in Ukr.
So he would literally rather believe state TV news over his own son?
5 live reported a distressed daughter this morning living in Ukraine saying her parents were pro Russia and said it was all western propaganda and now they only communicate with each by the odd text
The daughter was very upset at the fracture with her own parents
The charge is that Johnson got the intelligence assessment changed. That had nothing to do with anyone else.
Then Starmer is correct in referring it to the appropriate committee
Johnson is a smarmy, lying, worthless crook and a disgrace to himself, his party and his country. Your attitude to him is Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer played out in real life.
That’s enough slander 😠 There’s proper questions emerging here for PB to bottom out and help each other, and credit to Big G for answering every question honestly whilst HY has run away to hide in a fridge.
It is not a question it is abuse from a leftwinger who despises the fact Boris crushed the left with the biggest Tory landslide since Thatcher in 1987 in 2019.
I have got better things to do than answer bitter rants
Well, I hate to think what the details of this are when you cut it down from 5 days to 1. BBC: Hundreds of Ukrainian doctors have been taking part in an online war surgery course based in the UK.
The course was organised by Dr David Nott, who has taught conflict healthcare across the world, and Dr Henry Marsh, a neurosurgeon with deep links to Ukraine.
What was normally a five-day face-to-face course was crammed into a 12-hour Zoom call during which Dr Nott and Dr Marsh went through ballistics and burns, neurosurgery and vascular surgery.
War surgery is different to anything a doctor has seen before, David Nott said. Hostile environments require decisions on treatments made under extreme time and resource pressure.
Dr Marsh told the participants: "With luck you won't need this knowledge but best to prepare for the worst."
Particularly impressive as Henry Marsh has terminal cancer.
"As Ukrainians deal with the devastation of the Russian attacks in their homeland, many are also encountering a confounding and almost surreal backlash from family members in Russia, who refuse to believe that Russian soldiers could bomb innocent people, or even that a war is taking place at all."
Ukrainians Find That Relatives in Russia Don’t Believe It’s a War Many Ukrainians are encountering a confounding and frustrating backlash from family members in Russia who have bought into the official Kremlin messaging.
It's frustrating enough when a relative buys into a conspiracy theory you know for a fact to be false (one of mine genuinely thought images of T May had been spliced into footage in Salisbury and she was not really there, to take a mild example), but when you call to let them know your apartment building has been destroyed and half your neighbours are dead?
I'm struggling with this. In the piece a guy's own father (back in Russia) doesn't believe he is being bombed to bits in Ukr.
So he would literally rather believe state TV news over his own son?
5 live reported a distressed daughter this morning living in Ukraine saying her parents were pro Russia and said it was all western propaganda and now they only communicate with each by the odd text
The daughter was very upset at the fracture with her own parents
Sometimes a family breakdown is for the best, despite what TV and Movies would have us believe. I'm amazed they still text after that.
On topic, I’m looking forward to seeing how Starmer deploys the Lebedev affair at PMQs. It could really be the making of him if he manages it right.
Starmer and Labour has heaps to wield in parliament all week. If Tories didn’t want to get whacked over the head by a club with “world beating” on it, they shouldn’t have handed it to all parliamentary opponents then.
Two hundred thousand refugees? But what about the hurdles UK laying out for them to get through? It’s not unpatriotic for Libdems and Labour to resume normal opposition on these things and ensure government actually deliver on promises, it would be the wrong thing if the opposition didn’t.
Primeminister getting blocked by honest security assessments, who then gets the assessment changed to continue?
Starmer’s very first question this week has to be “when was the last time you rang and spoke to Putin”
I know this is old news but Glenn Greenwald is a proper piece of shit.
Why?
Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald Some have speculated that the US goal isn't to protect Ukrainians -- that's the pretext -- but rather sacrifice Ukraine by turning it into Syria or Afghanistan where war rages for years and destroys the country, bogging down Russia. No proof, but US actions consistent with that. 11:47 AM · Mar 5, 2022·Twitter Web App
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
I know this is old news but Glenn Greenwald is a proper piece of shit.
Why?
Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald Some have speculated that the US goal isn't to protect Ukrainians -- that's the pretext -- but rather sacrifice Ukraine by turning it into Syria or Afghanistan where war rages for years and destroys the country, bogging down Russia. No proof, but US actions consistent with that. 11:47 AM · Mar 5, 2022·Twitter Web App
Classy. 'Some have speculated' 'No proof'. Surprised it doesn't say the US 'lured' Russia in to boot.
"As Ukrainians deal with the devastation of the Russian attacks in their homeland, many are also encountering a confounding and almost surreal backlash from family members in Russia, who refuse to believe that Russian soldiers could bomb innocent people, or even that a war is taking place at all."
Ukrainians Find That Relatives in Russia Don’t Believe It’s a War Many Ukrainians are encountering a confounding and frustrating backlash from family members in Russia who have bought into the official Kremlin messaging.
It's frustrating enough when a relative buys into a conspiracy theory you know for a fact to be false (one of mine genuinely thought images of T May had been spliced into footage in Salisbury and she was not really there, to take a mild example), but when you call to let them know your apartment building has been destroyed and half your neighbours are dead?
I'm struggling with this. In the piece a guy's own father (back in Russia) doesn't believe he is being bombed to bits in Ukr.
So he would literally rather believe state TV news over his own son?
The truth is too hard to believe sometimes, even when it stares you in the face. Comfortable lies are preferred to uncomfortable truths. It's a phenomenon here too.
Old T.S. knew his stuff (despite all the dubiety).
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind Cannot bear very much reality. Time past and time future What might have been and what has been Point to one end, which is always present.
Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63 · 3h Putin has been pumping poison into their heads for 20 years, every channel & outlet. For perspective, it took Trump, Facebook, and one cable news station a few months to turn a third of Americans against democracy.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
Made the mistake of watching some of the BBC news 24 reports tonight. It was absolutely hellish. We are seeing war crimes and the massacre of civilians in Europe in real time. This is not Rwanda which was basically hidden away. It is utterly dominating our news day after day.
I am really not sure how long we can stand to one side from this. Of course I recognise the risks in dealing with a psychopathic lunatic with a huge nuclear arsenal but this is a horror. Are we really willing to let these bastards kill 1m people in Kyiv in the same way they murdered the inhabitants of Aleppo? Can we?
It's like footage from the Second World War, colorised
And yet it is happening now, this is today
"This is #Kharkiv, east #Ukraine, on 6 March 2022.
Before Putin began his barbaric war against the Ukrianian people, Kharkiv was a vibrant city of 1.5 million people. How can the world let this happen?!?"
I know this is old news but Glenn Greenwald is a proper piece of shit.
Why?
Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald Some have speculated that the US goal isn't to protect Ukrainians -- that's the pretext -- but rather sacrifice Ukraine by turning it into Syria or Afghanistan where war rages for years and destroys the country, bogging down Russia. No proof, but US actions consistent with that. 11:47 AM · Mar 5, 2022·Twitter Web App
Classy. 'Some have speculated' 'No proof'. Surprised it doesn't say the US 'lured' Russia in to boot.
GG probably says just that (with similar mealy-mouthed "disclaimer") but you'd need to wade though oceans of similar swill to find out for sure. Personally regret the minute I spent googling up this garbage.
The charge is that Johnson got the intelligence assessment changed. That had nothing to do with anyone else.
Then Starmer is correct in referring it to the appropriate committee
Johnson is a smarmy, lying, worthless crook and a disgrace to himself, his party and his country. Your attitude to him is Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer played out in real life.
That’s enough slander 😠 There’s proper questions emerging here for PB to bottom out and help each other, and credit to Big G for answering every question honestly whilst HY has run away to hide in a fridge.
It is not a question it is abuse from a leftwinger who despises the fact Boris crushed the left with the biggest Tory landslide since Thatcher in 1987 in 2019.
I have got better things to do than answer bitter rants
56.4% still voted against Boris, higher than the 51.9% who voted Leave in 2016.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
“Without Spam, we wouldn’t have been able to feed our army.” - Nikita Khrushchev
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
And because he has nukes we are forced to sit and watch
This is how Russians fight wars.
It appears Putin is happy to turn Ukraine into a pile of smoking ashes, with 5m refugees scattered across Europe, as long as he "wins" this war
The worst war crime in Europe since WW2, and probably second only to WW2. A truly bitter historic irony, when it was Russia that suffered so much from Hitler
Konstantin Kisin made the point that the Russian doctrine places far less worth on the value of the individual life, it is much more important that the "greater good" is seen to have been upheld. Putin propaganda is that this is about resisting the Nazis (again) and behind them NATO want to roll in and expand.
It is difficult for us in the west to try and consider such a notation, but we neither have the cultural framework nor have to listen to the 24/7 propaganda or be worried we will be off to Siberia should we raise an objection.
It's not just Russia. Individuals are not valued highly in pretty much everywhere that isn't part of the West. It's the collective that matters. But this doesn't seem to be understood very well outside Western countries.
Made the mistake of watching some of the BBC news 24 reports tonight. It was absolutely hellish. We are seeing war crimes and the massacre of civilians in Europe in real time. This is not Rwanda which was basically hidden away. It is utterly dominating our news day after day.
I am really not sure how long we can stand to one side from this. Of course I recognise the risks in dealing with a psychopathic lunatic with a huge nuclear arsenal but this is a horror. Are we really willing to let these bastards kill 1m people in Kyiv in the same way they murdered the inhabitants of Aleppo? Can we?
#Anonymous has hacked the #Russian streaming Plattform Wink and Ivi (Russian Netflix) and state television and is showing videos from the war in the #Ukraine
I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.
It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
We think Russia lost 9 warplanes yesterday. They're taking a big risk committing all their forces.
At the start of the conflict, Russia had around 1,100 warplanes (plus transporters, refuellers, helicopters etc). How many of those actually exist and are serviceable, is anyone’s guess. Let’s assume 50%, which IMHO is a tad optimistic given what else we know about the Russian forces at the moment.
Now, Ukraine says they’ve shot down around 50 in the last 10 days, which represents 10% of the entire Russian Air Force downed in a week and a half. There’s plenty of evidence for most of those kills too, so it’s not a wild over-estimate.
There’s also 30 or 40 helicopters shot down, which is fair proportion of the rotary fleet as well.
Thanks to weapons and training over the past half dozen years, the Ukranians have great equipment and know how to use it. There’s no need for the antagonistic “No-Fly Zone” that Putin wants NATO to activate, the Ukranian forces, backed by NATO weapons and intelligence, are doing just fine.
Are there estimates of how severely damaged Russia’s armoured strength is? Elite divisions? I’m sure Putin would look at only 5% of his Air Force gone (on paper) and think it’s a rounding error. And of the X thousand troop losses, not care less about the deaths of press ganged convicts and rural peasants.
So how bad is it really now?
Well, it's complicated.
For a start a fair number of the serviceable planes (with the best pilots) are in Syria.
The charge is that Johnson got the intelligence assessment changed. That had nothing to do with anyone else.
Then Starmer is correct in referring it to the appropriate committee
Johnson is a smarmy, lying, worthless crook and a disgrace to himself, his party and his country. Your attitude to him is Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer played out in real life.
That’s enough slander 😠 There’s proper questions emerging here for PB to bottom out and help each other, and credit to Big G for answering every question honestly whilst HY has run away to hide in a fridge.
It is not a question it is abuse from a leftwinger who despises the fact Boris crushed the left with the biggest Tory landslide since Thatcher in 1987 in 2019.
I have got better things to do than answer bitter rants
Welcome back 🙂
A couple of proper questions then, politely put.
Primeministers getting blocked by honest security assessments, who then get the assessment changed to continue, for example like Blair, has to be investigated to ensure resilience of our Democracy and security structures. are you arguing with that?
However, I agree with what you posted earlier, this isn’t something on lips of every voter at the moment, I completely agree.
What does appear to be on lips of every voter at the moment is the length of time the UK government is giving Oligarchs to escape with their money? I think we all agree can’t we, this is what voters of this country are thinking and saying unprompted right now - I have earwigged in two bars and a church today “why don’t they just get on and take action, why does it have to take another two weeks?”
So looking at the coming week, and parliament tomorrow, whilst the government set down it can only be done in six months, how do they end up agreeing 3 months, a month or two weeks from there and not defending the six months? What length would you be happy defending on PB? What is the game they are playing there, hoping opposition will keep government toes from fire?
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina — Additional troops from four European Union nations started arriving in Bosnia Friday to reinforce the EU-led peacekeeping force in the Balkan country which has never fully recovered from its brutal 1992-95 war.
All four companies of the reserve forces from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia will arrive at the European Union Force (EUFOR) base outside Sarajevo to reinforce its 600-strong contingent already stationed in the country. The new deployments will total 500 troops.
EUFOR announced the deployment of additional forces a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The force described the step as a precautionary measure to prevent the deterioration of the security situation internationally from spreading to Bosnia.
I know this is old news but Glenn Greenwald is a proper piece of shit.
Why?
Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald Some have speculated that the US goal isn't to protect Ukrainians -- that's the pretext -- but rather sacrifice Ukraine by turning it into Syria or Afghanistan where war rages for years and destroys the country, bogging down Russia. No proof, but US actions consistent with that. 11:47 AM · Mar 5, 2022·Twitter Web App
That's written in that awful slimeball way that I hate. It reeks of mendacity and sly malice.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
Well, they get emailed a load of shite from Moscow that they have to post on twitter and then once a month they find some money in their bank account.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I thought these trolls had stopped as they could no longer be paid by Moscow?
Despite difficulties in Putin's fiscal supply chain, am confident payment will still be made to those willing to take it. For one thing, plenty already salted down in US, UK, EU transferred to accounts, etc. that will NOT be frozen, suspended, sequestered, etc.
And of course only relative handful of such influencers are actually on the payroll, most are (to coin a phrase) "useful idiots" following the lead of the Bad Shepherd.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
I would have thought Stalin's repeated calls for "Second Front now" actually prevented the Soviets from taking over Berlin completely, prevented them from taking over western Germany and western Austria, as well as Denmark, France, Italy and Benelux.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
This lady is far from the only one who survived the Nazis, and now faces Putin. There are numerous similar accounts.
https://twitter.com/MaximEristavi/status/1500443664497233920 my grandma is about to celebrate her 92th birthday in her apartment hearing russian bombs falling closer and closer. she is too frail to leave. she survived hitler and his invaders setting her house on fire and shooting her point blank as 12yo teenager. she is not scared… … i talk to her every day. every time she ends up comforting me, despite that i am not the one in mortal danger. it breaks my heart over and over again. “don’t worry. i outlived hitler. i’ll live to the day when they hang putin, too” — that’s how we end every conversation…
It’s Boris own six point plan he wants to be measured against. Macron’s on phone with Putin for nearly two hours of Putin’s time at a time. How else is Boris going to tick off ““an immediate cease-fire and allow civilians safe passage, food and medical supplies”” without playing a part in the dialogue? Clearly Boris has given himself this action to deal direct with Putin to be able tick off this point on the plan?
In Parliament he wants to be measured against ““unprecedented powers to peel back the facade of dirty Russian money in London””. We should expect movement a lot quicker than three months?
That’s how to achieve a couple of points on Boris plan. What does he need to do to achieve the others? For example Don’t normalise Russian aggression Citing Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Johnson remarked that “Russian aggression merely encourages more aggression”. The Kremlin cannot “bite off chunks of an independent country and inflict immense human suffering and then creep back into the fold,” Johnson said.
What action not already taken ticks that one off?
1. Work with other world leaders to create an “international humanitarian coalition” Johnson said world leaders must work together to establish “an immediate cease-fire and allow civilians safe passage, food and medical supplies.” 2. Help Ukraine defend itself Johnson wrote that an increasing number of nations are willing to provide defensive equipment to Ukraine, but he said they must act quickly to coordinate their efforts. 3. Go further with sanctions Expelling Russian banks from SWIFT, “[going] after the oligarchs”, and giving law enforcement agencies “unprecedented powers to peel back the facade of dirty Russian money in London” were mentioned in the piece. 4. Don’t normalise Russian aggression Citing Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Johnson remarked that “Russian aggression merely encourages more aggression”. The Kremlin cannot “bite off chunks of an independent country and inflict immense human suffering and then creep back into the fold,” Johnson said. 5. Remain open to diplomacy, so long as Ukraine has a seat at the table “There can be no new Yalta, decided over the heads of the people of Ukraine, by external powers,” he wrote. 6. Strengthen Euro-Atlantic security This includes strengthening Nato’s eastern flank, as well as supporting non-Nato countries that may be at risk of Russian aggression, such as Moldova and Georgia. On the other hand, countries that “participate or enable Russian aggression, such as Belarus”, will be sanctioned.
All Europe should do that, be a good way to get a military upgrade.
Sounds like a dandy add-on to Uncle Joe's infrastructure program. AND one more likely than most to get through Congress at the moment!
For it appears to be emerging, that one way Republicans can disassociate themselves from 45 without actually denouncing him, is by wrapping themselves in the Blue-and-Gold.
Of course it IS possible to both a the same time, such as Mike Pence. But THAT combo is NOT for faint-hearted, run-of-the-mill GOPers. Not yet, anyway.
Chris almighty. Is there no end to the disaster that is social media?
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina — Additional troops from four European Union nations started arriving in Bosnia Friday to reinforce the EU-led peacekeeping force in the Balkan country which has never fully recovered from its brutal 1992-95 war.
All four companies of the reserve forces from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia will arrive at the European Union Force (EUFOR) base outside Sarajevo to reinforce its 600-strong contingent already stationed in the country. The new deployments will total 500 troops.
EUFOR announced the deployment of additional forces a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The force described the step as a precautionary measure to prevent the deterioration of the security situation internationally from spreading to Bosnia.
Disturbing thread. https://twitter.com/MaximEristavi/status/1500443664497233920 Let's discuss what's happening in Russia. To put it simply, it's going full fascist. Authorities launched a propaganda campaign to gain popular support for their invasion of Ukraine and they're getting lots of it. You can see "Z" on these guys' clothes. What does it mean?
Rubio signalling that US Int believes that Russia are going to start doing things from Transnistria?
Wasn’t she in the Rocky Horror Picture Show?
I was in Rocky Horror at school. Loved it. 👯♀️ 👄
A bit ribald for a school production. Are you a St Trinity's Old Girl?
The mere mention of sixth formers in stockings and suspenders and PB instantly so distracted from World War III they don’t notice what autocorrect done to trinians
We used the same costumes and make up to put on another show I can’t remember name, to do with Vampires and Motorbikes.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
Disturbing thread. https://twitter.com/MaximEristavi/status/1500443664497233920 Let's discuss what's happening in Russia. To put it simply, it's going full fascist. Authorities launched a propaganda campaign to gain popular support for their invasion of Ukraine and they're getting lots of it. You can see "Z" on these guys' clothes. What does it mean?
Not sure it is fascist in the true historical sense, but close enough to be a useful label.
This is why I think we are only weeks, maybe days from war with Russia. This shit from Putin is totally out of control and at some point we will have to draw the line and defend it from evil.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina — Additional troops from four European Union nations started arriving in Bosnia Friday to reinforce the EU-led peacekeeping force in the Balkan country which has never fully recovered from its brutal 1992-95 war.
All four companies of the reserve forces from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia will arrive at the European Union Force (EUFOR) base outside Sarajevo to reinforce its 600-strong contingent already stationed in the country. The new deployments will total 500 troops.
EUFOR announced the deployment of additional forces a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The force described the step as a precautionary measure to prevent the deterioration of the security situation internationally from spreading to Bosnia.
I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.
It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.
Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.
My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).
Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?
Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones
Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
Up your google skills. Jeez
No need for you to up your condescension skills.
Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
It is pretty clear, reading between the lines, that NLAWS (and much else) are being resupplied across the border, but for obvious reasons the evidence for this is now much sketchier
But you can find plentiful hints on Twitter. eg
NEXTA@nexta_tv·Mar 4A new large batch of NLAW arrived in #Kyiv💪
Thales Belfast is apparently quite busy at the moment. Lots of overtime on offer.
How quickly can Belfast Produce the NLAW?
Is there a risk, if this drags on, that we will have sent all of our available stocks of NLAWs and then the flow will be reduced to what can be produced?
That's a very real risk.
But... Against that, the Ukrainians can draw upon antitank weapons built in Belfast... Or in the US, in Sweden, or France, or Australia, etc.
Do we know how many Polish MiGs they are getting? Perhaps that will be a game changer.
I think they have around 25 but it’s unclear how many are serviceable. I think the total NATO ex-Warsaw Pact inventory is around 70.
Apparently there is an issue that the Polish MiGs have been upgraded with Western avionics to an extent that the Ukrainian pilots can’t just jump into the cockpits without training.
Chris almighty. Is there no end to the disaster that is social media?
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina — Additional troops from four European Union nations started arriving in Bosnia Friday to reinforce the EU-led peacekeeping force in the Balkan country which has never fully recovered from its brutal 1992-95 war.
All four companies of the reserve forces from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia will arrive at the European Union Force (EUFOR) base outside Sarajevo to reinforce its 600-strong contingent already stationed in the country. The new deployments will total 500 troops.
EUFOR announced the deployment of additional forces a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The force described the step as a precautionary measure to prevent the deterioration of the security situation internationally from spreading to Bosnia.
@nexta_tv ❗️The armed forces of #Ukraine liberated the city of #Chuguev in the #Kharkiv region. #Russian side suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment, according to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina — Additional troops from four European Union nations started arriving in Bosnia Friday to reinforce the EU-led peacekeeping force in the Balkan country which has never fully recovered from its brutal 1992-95 war.
All four companies of the reserve forces from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia will arrive at the European Union Force (EUFOR) base outside Sarajevo to reinforce its 600-strong contingent already stationed in the country. The new deployments will total 500 troops.
EUFOR announced the deployment of additional forces a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The force described the step as a precautionary measure to prevent the deterioration of the security situation internationally from spreading to Bosnia.
I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.
It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.
Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.
My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).
Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?
Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones
Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
Up your google skills. Jeez
No need for you to up your condescension skills.
Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
It is pretty clear, reading between the lines, that NLAWS (and much else) are being resupplied across the border, but for obvious reasons the evidence for this is now much sketchier
But you can find plentiful hints on Twitter. eg
NEXTA@nexta_tv·Mar 4A new large batch of NLAW arrived in #Kyiv💪
Thales Belfast is apparently quite busy at the moment. Lots of overtime on offer.
How quickly can Belfast Produce the NLAW?
Is there a risk, if this drags on, that we will have sent all of our available stocks of NLAWs and then the flow will be reduced to what can be produced?
That's a very real risk.
But... Against that, the Ukrainians can draw upon antitank weapons built in Belfast... Or in the US, in Sweden, or France, or Australia, etc.
Anti-tank weapons can be made a lot quicker than tanks can.
Chris almighty. Is there no end to the disaster that is social media?
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
Chris almighty. Is there no end to the disaster that is social media?
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
He is Fascist, inasmuch as that means anything, and I think it does - eg Fascism = preference for and worship of: aggression, warfare, violence, patriarchy, "tradition", the collective spirit, the "will to power" - plus dominance for the sake of dominance, hysterical favouring of the nation (or race, cult, tribe, creed) over all others, contempt for democracy, etc etc
Fascist. Putin is a Fascist.
"Nazism" is to my mind a specifically German version of Fascism, and is uniquely obsessed with Jews (which Putin doesn't seem to be, particularly)
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
Chris almighty. Is there no end to the disaster that is social media?
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
He is Fascist, inasmuch as that means anything, and I think it does - eg Fascism = preference for and worship of: aggression, warfare, violence, patriarchy, "tradition", the collective spirit, the "will to power" - plus dominance for the sake of dominance, hysterical favouring of the nation (or race, cult, tribe, creed) over all others, contempt for democracy, etc etc
Fascist. Putin is a Fascist.
"Nazism" is to my mind a specifically German version of Fascism, and is uniquely obsessed with Jews (which Putin doesn't seem to be, particularly)
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
I thought it was well-known. And basically was to allow the photo op of the allies all meeting up at a particular geographic location. But that may just be my faulty memory.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
Chatting to someone who was part of the British occupation. A family friend. Chat was when I was little, with my Dad, who probably remembers the story in more detail than I do. It wasn't a delay into Germany, I think it was at the very end when they were in Berlin. They were ordered to stop.
Chris almighty. Is there no end to the disaster that is social media?
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
I think war is inevitable now, and if (or when) it goes nuclear, that will be the end of it for all of us. Dark times. Unimaginably dark times.
Sweet Jesus that is a terrifying thread, at the top. Russian Fascism, absolutely: that's what this is
I wonder if Putin himself realises what monsters he has unleashed
I too fear we will end up at war with him, at which point we might all die
The west needs to reach out to China, and together we need to kill him. China may be our enemy but we linked up with Stalin to defeat Hitler, who was the greater menace to both
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
I thought it was well-known. And basically was to allow the photo op of the allies all meeting up at a particular geographic location. But that may just be my faulty memory.
Pretty scandalous really. Ending up in tens of thousands more people than necessary living under a communist regime.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
Chatting to someone who was part of the British occupation. A family friend. Chat was when I was little, with my Dad, who probably remembers the story in more detail than I do. It wasn't a delay into Germany, I think it was at the very end when they were in Berlin. They were ordered to stop.
IIRC the US 9th army was ordered to stop their advance to Berlin when they reached the Elbe.
Given that Berlin was to be in the Soviet zone an attempt to capture it was not deemed worth the inevitable extra casualties it would bring.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
I think war is inevitable now, and if (or when) it goes nuclear, that will be the end of it for all of us. Dark times. Unimaginably dark times.
Sweet Jesus that is a terrifying thread, at the top. Russian Fascism, absolutely: that's what this is
I wonder if Putin himself realises what monsters he has unleashed
I too fear we will end up at war with him, at which point we might all die
The west needs to reach out to China, and together we need to kill him. China may be our enemy but we linked up with Stalin to defeat Hitler, who was the greater menace to both
Get a grip. Russia is invading (not very efficiently it would appear) a near neighbour. It's deeply regrettable for those concerned, but as a threat to the wider world, they get less scary by the day.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
I thought it was well-known. And basically was to allow the photo op of the allies all meeting up at a particular geographic location. But that may just be my faulty memory.
Pretty scandalous really. Ending up in tens of thousands more people than necessary living under a communist regime.
The occupation zones had already been decided at Yalta (if not earlier).
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
I think war is inevitable now, and if (or when) it goes nuclear, that will be the end of it for all of us. Dark times. Unimaginably dark times.
Sweet Jesus that is a terrifying thread, at the top. Russian Fascism, absolutely: that's what this is
I wonder if Putin himself realises what monsters he has unleashed
I too fear we will end up at war with him, at which point we might all die
The west needs to reach out to China, and together we need to kill him. China may be our enemy but we linked up with Stalin to defeat Hitler, who was the greater menace to both
I agree. At least in so far as China is not essential to any way out of this that is not total war.
Chris almighty. Is there no end to the disaster that is social media?
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
Chatting to someone who was part of the British occupation. A family friend. Chat was when I was little, with my Dad, who probably remembers the story in more detail than I do. It wasn't a delay into Germany, I think it was at the very end when they were in Berlin. They were ordered to stop.
IIRC the US 9th army was ordered to stop their advance to Berlin when they reached the Elbe.
Given that Berlin was to be in the Soviet zone an attempt to capture it was not deemed worth the inevitable extra casualties it would bring.
I would have thought Stalin's repeated calls for "Second Front now" actually prevented the Soviets from taking over Berlin completely, prevented them from taking over western Germany and western Austria, as well as Denmark, France, Italy and Benelux.
Interesting thread from the former Russian Foreign Minister under Yeltsin:
Lots of discussions about the threat of nuclear war from the Kremlin and whether Putin is rational. I share my thoughts in this thread.
To frame: I do not believe Russia would use nuclear weapons and I believe Putin is a rational actor.
First of all, I want to examine where the questioning of Putin’s rationality started. I think it began because most people, particularly in the West, view his decision to invade Ukraine as utterly irrational. I disagree. It’s horrific, but not irrational.
To understand why the invasion was rational for Putin, we have to step into his shoes. Three beliefs came together at the same time in his calculus: 1. Ukraine’s condition as a country 2. Russian military’s condition 3. The West’s geopolitical condition
1. Ukraine’s condition. Putin spent the last 20 years believing that Ukraine is not a real nation and, at best, should be a satellite state. Maidan ended any hope of keeping Ukraine independent and pro-Kremlin. He thought the West was behind it. If Ukraine’s government cannot be kept independent and pro-Kremlin covertly, as he likely concluded, then he will overtly force it to be. He also started to believe his own propagandists that Ukraine is run by a Nazi-Bandera junta. Perfect pretext to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
2. Russian military. The Kremlin spent the last 20 years trying to modernize its military. Much of that budget was stolen and spent on mega-yachts in Cyprus. But as a military advisor you cannot report that to the President. So they reported lies to him instead. Potemkin military
3. The West. The Russian ruling elite believed its own propaganda that Pres. Biden is mentally inept. They also thought the EU was weak because of how toothless their sanctions were in 2014. And then the U.S. botched its withdrawal from Afghanistan, solidifying this narrative.
If you believe all three of the above to be true and your goal is to restore the glory of the Russian Empire (whatever that means), then it is perfectly rational to invade Ukraine.
He miscalculated on all three, but that doesn’t make him insane. Simply wrong and immoral.
So, in my opinion, he is rational. Given that he is rational, I strongly believe he will not intentionally use nuclear weapons against the West. I say intentionally because indiscriminate shelling near a nuclear power plant can cause an unintentional nuclear disaster in Ukraine.
I will take it a step further. The threat of nuclear war is another example of his rationality. The Kremlin knows it can try to extract concessions, whether from Ukraine or the West, by saber-rattling its last remaining card in the deck: nuclear weapons.
The ultimate conclusion here is that the West should not agree to any unilateral concessions or limit its support of Ukraine too much for the fear of nuclear war.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
I think war is inevitable now, and if (or when) it goes nuclear, that will be the end of it for all of us. Dark times. Unimaginably dark times.
The original explanation I heard about 10 days ago at the start of the war for the "Z" is that it's to distinguish Russian and Ukrainian vehicles from each other because they often use the same military hardware.
Incidentally the pictures of Russia bringing forward random civilian trucks and vehicles speak to the deep logistical hole they find themselves in.
An under-reported fact of ww2 was just how huge the logistical support America gave Russia. Over a third of all aviation fuel was supplied by the US, hundreds of thousands of trucks and astonishing amounts of explosives, copper and aluminium.
There is this myth about the great efficient Soviet/Russian war machine but reality is pretty different.
Russia, good at artillery bombardment, shit at supplying the artillery without help.
the west gave over 300,000 trucks to the USSR in WW2 while the Russians where able to produce about 150,000 of there own. so that's about 2/3 of there trucks.
We also delayed our own advance into Germany to let the Soviets catch up. Bizarre and still unexplained.
what source do you have for that claim about delaying the advance into Germany? My limied belief is Battle of the Bulge, failure of OP MARKET GARDEN, massive flooding around Netherlands and v fierce resistance from Germans was the real cause
I thought it was well-known. And basically was to allow the photo op of the allies all meeting up at a particular geographic location. But that may just be my faulty memory.
Pretty scandalous really. Ending up in tens of thousands more people than necessary living under a communist regime.
Not quite as I remembered it. It was Bradley wanting to limit Western casualties in the dying days of the war:
"After General Omar Bradley warned, however, that capturing a city [Berlin] located in a region that the Soviets had already received at the Yalta Conference might cost 100,000 casualties,[60] by 15 April Eisenhower ordered all armies to halt when they reached the Elbe and Mulde Rivers, thus immobilizing these spearheads while the war continued for three more weeks. 21st Army Group was then instead ordered to move northeast toward Bremen and Hamburg. While the U.S. Ninth and First Armies held their ground from Magdeburg through Leipzig to western Czechoslovakia, Eisenhower ordered three Allied field armies (1st French, and the U.S. Seventh and Third Armies) into southeastern Germany and Austria. Advancing from northern Italy, the British Eighth Army[61] pushed to the borders of Yugoslavia to defeat the remaining Wehrmacht elements there.[59] This later caused some friction with the Yugoslav forces, notably around Trieste."
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
I think war is inevitable now, and if (or when) it goes nuclear, that will be the end of it for all of us. Dark times. Unimaginably dark times.
The original explanation I heard about 10 days ago at the start of the war for the "Z" is that it's to distinguish Russian and Ukrainian vehicles from each other because they often use the same military hardware.
Yes, but the Russians seem to be fetishizing it into something more sinister.
BTW, has anyone noticed how so much of the web chatter re: anti-Vax, has now shifted to pro-Putin?
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
I have a fairly bonkers relative who was madly anti-vax and has now segued into being effortlessly pro-Putin. Ditto a friend (less of a friend at the moment)
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
The government and media cannot be trusted on X Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
Yes, that sounds about right
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
Of all the madness of Putin's war, his lie that it is the other side who are Nazi when he is clearly the greatest Nazi since Spandau was closed to new inmates is just jaw dropping off the scale.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
He isn't a Nazi, he's a Russian ultra-nationalist and imperialist. Unless we're just using the word Nazi to mean very bad person.
Russia is going full fascist. The "Z" in place of the swastika.
Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed
I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?
These laws actually help his government and I have no doubt they will be enforced if for no other reason public demand and opposition demands
I would just comment in all this cynicism of Boris, Peppa Crerar the mirror journalist most responsible for putting partygate in front of the nation, was very complimentary to Boris this morning saying that he was doing well and leading Britain in a global context
So to ask the question again, if we are doing such a marvellous job why are we refusing Ukrainian refugees? The rest of Europe acts, we refuse but then tell lies about acting.
On one hand we have that traitor Patel saying how marvellous her policy is for refugees. On the other hand we have hard evidence that her Border Force refuse to let almost everyone in. Go away they are told.
If there is evidence than Patel must respond and hopefully it will be raised in the HOC tomorrow
If? It is being reported widely from multiple sources of multiple examples.
They are lying to you when they say the policy is generous.
I understand 200,000 can come to the UK for 3 years
Is that wrong and if so please provide a link
One posted above. Turned away by Border Force. Told to go away, back to Paris or Brussels. We aren't letting people in. You understand the lie they have told. I don;t blame you one bit - it is outrageous that we can't trust the word of the Home Secretary about the treatment of refugees.
But we can't trust her word. It is a lie.
What evidence do you have that we are not processing the 10 000 received yesterday
10,000 what? People? The Home Office said we have so far let in 50.
This one is simple. We have a million people fleeing into Poland alone. Some have relatives here, connections here, sanctuary offered here. Unlike countries across the continent we are turning them away. You can't come here. Go away. Fill in a form. We'll think about it.
Its disgusting, shameful, appalling. That she is lying about it just makes it worse. Let refugees in. Now.
10,000 applied yesterday and are being processed
The Ukrainian Ambassador seemed content with the process just now, but are you saying the UK should welcome 4 million refugees and if not how many above the 200,000
Their forms being processed here. The actual refugees are barred from entry. Should Poland adopt the same policy?
Saying "you can't come here, go fill in a form" is stopping people from coming. In that you stop them from coming. Turn them away. Make them Someone Else's Problem.
"How many above the 200,000". Come on. You know it isn't 200,000. We are BLOCKING people from coming. Is France doing that? Germany? Ireland? Poland? Anyone?
Is there another major country within direct reach of refugees refusing them entry that isn't Britain?
Are you seriously saying that Ukrainians in France trying to get to the UK should be treated exactly the same as Ukrainians in Ukraine trying to get to Poland??
Comments
It is difficult for us in the west to try and consider such a notation, but we neither have the cultural framework nor have to listen to the 24/7 propaganda or be worried we will be off to Siberia should we raise an objection.
Zelensky: "Think about the feeling of impunity that the occupiers have that they announce their atrocities in advance! All because there is no reaction. Not a word. It’s like all Western leaders are gone today. I hope you will at least notice it tomorrow, and react to it".
However much no NFZ makes rational sense for the West, it's no wonder the Ukrainians are a bit more sanguine about it making a large scale war more likely given their current situation.
"With the indiscriminate bombardment of Kharkiv, a mostly Russian-speaking city, Putin's strategy becomes clear: Murder as many people as possible. Then take possession of the ruins.
"Longer-term strategy: move "patriotic" Russians into the ruins. Change the nature of the place. Whether you call it genocide or ethnic cleansing, the KGB know how to do it: Stalin, like Hitler, tried it many times."
https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1500482760242339843?s=20&t=Wfff52Cp7zZ2bvjUXHGNIA
Yes, we should make it easier. We should do more.
Comparison to the Poland number is stupidity personified.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
"I have to wipe my ass with ruble notes instead of super-soft triple Finnish toilet paper"
https://twitter.com/aleksnovak007/status/1500595638811209734
The daughter was very upset at the fracture with her own parents
I have got better things to do than answer bitter rants
Two hundred thousand refugees? But what about the hurdles UK laying out for them to get through? It’s not unpatriotic for Libdems and Labour to resume normal opposition on these things and ensure government actually deliver on promises, it would be the wrong thing if the opposition didn’t.
Primeminister getting blocked by honest security assessments, who then gets the assessment changed to continue?
Starmer’s very first question this week has to be “when was the last time you rang and spoke to Putin”
@ggreenwald
Some have speculated that the US goal isn't to protect Ukrainians -- that's the pretext -- but rather sacrifice Ukraine by turning it into Syria or Afghanistan where war rages for years and destroys the country, bogging down Russia. No proof, but US actions consistent with that.
11:47 AM · Mar 5, 2022·Twitter Web App
Garry Kasparov
@Kasparov63
·
3h
Putin has been pumping poison into their heads for 20 years, every channel & outlet. For perspective, it took Trump, Facebook, and one cable news station a few months to turn a third of Americans against democracy.
It's like footage from the Second World War, colorised
And yet it is happening now, this is today
"This is #Kharkiv, east #Ukraine, on 6 March 2022.
Before Putin began his barbaric war against the Ukrianian people, Kharkiv was a vibrant city of 1.5 million people. How can the world let this happen?!?"
https://twitter.com/AlexKokcharov/status/1500577460093603842?s=20&t=-6OVFfqYhkSAO2uut-L_xQ
#Anonymous has hacked the #Russian streaming Plattform Wink and Ivi (Russian Netflix) and state television and is showing videos from the war in the #Ukraine
#UkraineRussianWar #Moscow #UkraineUnderAttaсk
For a start a fair number of the serviceable planes (with the best pilots) are in Syria.
That's what I'm being told in USA. Is that true here, and in UK? IF so, pretty interesting to put it mildly.
https://twitter.com/POLITICOEurope/status/1500441145712812033
"Russian occupiers gathered sufficient troops near Kyiv and will try to seize the capital in the next few days."
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1500565829540323332
A couple of proper questions then, politely put.
Primeministers getting blocked by honest security assessments, who then get the assessment changed to continue, for example like Blair, has to be investigated to ensure resilience of our Democracy and security structures. are you arguing with that?
However, I agree with what you posted earlier, this isn’t something on lips of every voter at the moment, I completely agree.
What does appear to be on lips of every voter at the moment is the length of time the UK government is giving Oligarchs to escape with their money? I think we all agree can’t we, this is what voters of this country are thinking and saying unprompted right now - I have earwigged in two bars and a church today “why don’t they just get on and take action, why does it have to take another two weeks?”
So looking at the coming week, and parliament tomorrow, whilst the government set down it can only be done in six months, how do they end up agreeing 3 months, a month or two weeks from there and not defending the six months? What length would you be happy defending on PB? What is the game they are playing there, hoping opposition will keep government toes from fire?
SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina — Additional troops from four European Union nations started arriving in Bosnia Friday to reinforce the EU-led peacekeeping force in the Balkan country which has never fully recovered from its brutal 1992-95 war.
All four companies of the reserve forces from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia will arrive at the European Union Force (EUFOR) base outside Sarajevo to reinforce its 600-strong contingent already stationed in the country. The new deployments will total 500 troops.
EUFOR announced the deployment of additional forces a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The force described the step as a precautionary measure to prevent the deterioration of the security situation internationally from spreading to Bosnia.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/extra-eu-troops-in-bosnia-to-prevent-spillover-from-russian-aggression-vs-ukraine-01646422671
It is bizarre but definitely a phenomenon. How does it work?
Therefore the government and media cannot be trusted on 'anything', including Y
Anyone saying the opposite of our government and media on Y is therefore truthful
Something something Putin is just defending his country's interests
And of course only relative handful of such influencers are actually on the payroll, most are (to coin a phrase) "useful idiots" following the lead of the Bad Shepherd.
My relative has bought the entire Putinist spiel, which really surprises me (he is smart). He rants about Ukraine being dominated by "Nazis" like this is obvious and terrible, yet he has not mentioned Ukraine in his lifetime, AFAIK, until this war. So the evil Nazi regime in Kyiv didn't bother him until Putin decided to "take it out", at which point the destruction of the Nazis became imperative and Putin is being hypocritically opposed by the liars in Washington, London, Paris, etc
I do not respond to his social media and Whatsapp screams because we would have a terrible row and probably never talk again. I just hope he recovers some of his wits
https://twitter.com/MaximEristavi/status/1500443664497233920
my grandma is about to celebrate her 92th birthday in her apartment hearing russian bombs falling closer and closer. she is too frail to leave. she survived hitler and his invaders setting her house on fire and shooting her point blank as 12yo teenager. she is not scared…
… i talk to her every day. every time she ends up comforting me, despite that i am not the one in mortal danger. it breaks my heart over and over again. “don’t worry. i outlived hitler. i’ll live to the day when they hang putin, too” — that’s how we end every conversation…
It’s Boris own six point plan he wants to be measured against. Macron’s on phone with Putin for nearly two hours of Putin’s time at a time. How else is Boris going to tick off ““an immediate cease-fire and allow civilians safe passage, food and medical supplies”” without playing a part in the dialogue? Clearly Boris has given himself this action to deal direct with Putin to be able tick off this point on the plan?
In Parliament he wants to be measured against ““unprecedented powers to peel back the facade of dirty Russian money in London””. We should expect movement a lot quicker than three months?
That’s how to achieve a couple of points on Boris plan. What does he need to do to achieve the others? For example
Don’t normalise Russian aggression Citing Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Johnson remarked that “Russian aggression merely encourages more aggression”.
The Kremlin cannot “bite off chunks of an independent country and inflict immense human suffering and then creep back into the fold,” Johnson said.
What action not already taken ticks that one off?
1. Work with other world leaders to create an “international humanitarian coalition”
Johnson said world leaders must work together to establish “an immediate cease-fire and allow civilians safe passage, food and medical supplies.”
2. Help Ukraine defend itself
Johnson wrote that an increasing number of nations are willing to provide defensive equipment to Ukraine, but he said they must act quickly to coordinate their efforts.
3. Go further with sanctions
Expelling Russian banks from SWIFT, “[going] after the oligarchs”, and giving law enforcement agencies “unprecedented powers to peel back the facade of dirty Russian money in London” were mentioned in the piece.
4. Don’t normalise Russian aggression
Citing Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Johnson remarked that “Russian aggression merely encourages more aggression”.
The Kremlin cannot “bite off chunks of an independent country and inflict immense human suffering and then creep back into the fold,” Johnson said.
5. Remain open to diplomacy, so long as Ukraine has a seat at the table
“There can be no new Yalta, decided over the heads of the people of Ukraine, by external powers,” he wrote.
6. Strengthen Euro-Atlantic security
This includes strengthening Nato’s eastern flank, as well as supporting non-Nato countries that may be at risk of Russian aggression, such as Moldova and Georgia. On the other hand, countries that “participate or enable Russian aggression, such as Belarus”, will be sanctioned.
For it appears to be emerging, that one way Republicans can disassociate themselves from 45 without actually denouncing him, is by wrapping themselves in the Blue-and-Gold.
Of course it IS possible to both a the same time, such as Mike Pence. But THAT combo is NOT for faint-hearted, run-of-the-mill GOPers. Not yet, anyway.
Pro-Russian channels and QAnon conspiracy theorists think Moscow is launching airstrikes on Ukraine to destroy bioweapon-manufacturing labs in order to prevent the American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci from creating a sequel to the COVID-19 virus.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/02/ukraine-biolabs-conspiracy-theory-qanon/
Its record is:
Lost in Croatia
Lost in Bosnia
Lost in Kosovo
https://twitter.com/MaximEristavi/status/1500443664497233920
Let's discuss what's happening in Russia. To put it simply, it's going full fascist. Authorities launched a propaganda campaign to gain popular support for their invasion of Ukraine and they're getting lots of it. You can see "Z" on these guys' clothes. What does it mean?
Of course that's among real human beings as opposed to bots.
We used the same costumes and make up to put on another show I can’t remember name, to do with Vampires and Motorbikes.
Maybe all that Baudrillard stuff about hyper reality is true.
Traded as high as $136, earlier
This is why I think we are only weeks, maybe days from war with Russia. This shit from Putin is totally out of control and at some point we will have to draw the line and defend it from evil.
But... Against that, the Ukrainians can draw upon antitank weapons built in Belfast... Or in the US, in Sweden, or France, or Australia, etc.
Apparently there is an issue that the Polish MiGs have been upgraded with Western avionics to an extent that the Ukrainian pilots can’t just jump into the cockpits without training.
❗️The armed forces of #Ukraine liberated the city of #Chuguev in the #Kharkiv region. #Russian side suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment, according to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1500615581212594179
The Croatian, Bosnian and Kosovan wars were various attempts to create a Greater Serbia.
🙋♀️
https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1500495309595725831
Here are the Russian Police.
https://twitter.com/deformispersona/status/1500462942474625024
I think war is inevitable now, and if (or when) it goes nuclear, that will be the end of it for all of us. Dark times. Unimaginably dark times.
Fascist. Putin is a Fascist.
"Nazism" is to my mind a specifically German version of Fascism, and is uniquely obsessed with Jews (which Putin doesn't seem to be, particularly)
It really does not
I can't be arsed to argue this but this so-called new evidence is desperately feeble, when scrutinised
I wonder if Putin himself realises what monsters he has unleashed
I too fear we will end up at war with him, at which point we might all die
The west needs to reach out to China, and together we need to kill him. China may be our enemy but we linked up with Stalin to defeat Hitler, who was the greater menace to both
Given that Berlin was to be in the Soviet zone an attempt to capture it was not deemed worth the inevitable extra casualties it would bring.
And war is bad for business.
Lots of discussions about the threat of nuclear war from the Kremlin and whether Putin is rational. I share my thoughts in this thread.
To frame: I do not believe Russia would use nuclear weapons and I believe Putin is a rational actor.
First of all, I want to examine where the questioning of Putin’s rationality started. I think it began because most people, particularly in the West, view his decision to invade Ukraine as utterly irrational. I disagree. It’s horrific, but not irrational.
To understand why the invasion was rational for Putin, we have to step into his shoes. Three beliefs came together at the same time in his calculus:
1. Ukraine’s condition as a country
2. Russian military’s condition
3. The West’s geopolitical condition
1. Ukraine’s condition. Putin spent the last 20 years believing that Ukraine is not a real nation and, at best, should be a satellite state. Maidan ended any hope of keeping Ukraine independent and pro-Kremlin. He thought the West was behind it. If Ukraine’s government cannot be kept independent and pro-Kremlin covertly, as he likely concluded, then he will overtly force it to be. He also started to believe his own propagandists that Ukraine is run by a Nazi-Bandera junta. Perfect pretext to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
2. Russian military. The Kremlin spent the last 20 years trying to modernize its military. Much of that budget was stolen and spent on mega-yachts in Cyprus. But as a military advisor you cannot report that to the President. So they reported lies to him instead. Potemkin military
3. The West. The Russian ruling elite believed its own propaganda that Pres. Biden is mentally inept. They also thought the EU was weak because of how toothless their sanctions were in 2014. And then the U.S. botched its withdrawal from Afghanistan, solidifying this narrative.
If you believe all three of the above to be true and your goal is to restore the glory of the Russian Empire (whatever that means), then it is perfectly rational to invade Ukraine.
He miscalculated on all three, but that doesn’t make him insane. Simply wrong and immoral.
So, in my opinion, he is rational. Given that he is rational, I strongly believe he will not intentionally use nuclear weapons against the West. I say intentionally because indiscriminate shelling near a nuclear power plant can cause an unintentional nuclear disaster in Ukraine.
I will take it a step further. The threat of nuclear war is another example of his rationality. The Kremlin knows it can try to extract concessions, whether from Ukraine or the West, by saber-rattling its last remaining card in the deck: nuclear weapons.
The ultimate conclusion here is that the West should not agree to any unilateral concessions or limit its support of Ukraine too much for the fear of nuclear war.
https://twitter.com/andreivkozyrev/status/1500610676926005251
Let's hope he is right.
But either way, we will be at war with weeks, if not days imho.
Bleak, beyond bleak.
Easily the darkest days since the War.
"After General Omar Bradley warned, however, that capturing a city [Berlin] located in a region that the Soviets had already received at the Yalta Conference might cost 100,000 casualties,[60] by 15 April Eisenhower ordered all armies to halt when they reached the Elbe and Mulde Rivers, thus immobilizing these spearheads while the war continued for three more weeks. 21st Army Group was then instead ordered to move northeast toward Bremen and Hamburg. While the U.S. Ninth and First Armies held their ground from Magdeburg through Leipzig to western Czechoslovakia, Eisenhower ordered three Allied field armies (1st French, and the U.S. Seventh and Third Armies) into southeastern Germany and Austria. Advancing from northern Italy, the British Eighth Army[61] pushed to the borders of Yugoslavia to defeat the remaining Wehrmacht elements there.[59] This later caused some friction with the Yugoslav forces, notably around Trieste."
https://mobile.twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1500495309595725831